Shoplifting in sales outlets, and particularly in retail sales outlets, is a significant problem adversely affecting both sellers and consumers. It is estimated that retail sellers lose between $10 and $12 billion worth of merchandise annually due to shoplifting and spend an additional $7 to $10 billion on anti-shoplifting measures, including security devices and personnel to prevent shoplifting. To offset the costs of shoplifting, retail sellers pass these costs on to consumers in the form of higher prices on merchandise. It is estimated that each household in the United States pays retail sellers approximately $200 per year in increased retail prices for merchandise due to the costs of shoplifting.
To deter shoplifting, some sales outlets employ electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems that include transponder tags attached to each article of merchandise in the sales outlet. EAS systems further include one or more electronic readers positioned at exits from the sales outlet to detect the transponder tags. When a customer purchases an article, the transponder tag is disabled or removed from the article and the customer passes by the reader and out the exit of the sales outlet without sounding an alarm. When a shoplifter attempts to remove an article from the sales outlet without paying, the reader detects the transponder tag that has not been disabled or removed from the article and sounds the alarm. Sales or security personnel in the sales outlet are alerted by the alarm, enabling them to apprehend the shoplifter and recover the merchandise.
Although EAS systems are effective in reducing losses incurred by sales outlets due to theft of merchandise without payment, retail sales outlets employing EAS systems remain susceptible to other forms of shoplifting. Many retail sellers allow customers to freely return merchandise purchased from the sales outlet, even in the absence of proof of purchase, if the article being returned is carried by the sales outlet. Some customers, however, purchase merchandise at reduced sale prices from a retail sales outlet and return the merchandise to the same sales outlet for exchange or refund, claiming to have paid full price for the merchandise. If the seller refunds the full price, the seller loses the amount in excess of the purchase price in addition to the cost of processing the returned merchandise. Other retail sellers provide price guarantees having time limits. If a customer purchases an article of merchandise from a seller and subsequently discovers that the article is sold elsewhere at a lower price or that the original seller has dropped the price of the article after the customer's purchase date, but before the expiration of the price guarantee time limit, the customer is entitled to a refund from the seller of an amount at least equal to the difference between the purchase price and the lower price. Some customers, however, attempt to recover a refund under the price guarantee after expiration of the time limit. Still other customers remove merchandise from one sales outlet without paying for the merchandise and attempt to return the merchandise to another sales outlet that sells the same merchandise for a cash refund.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to generally improve electronic anti-shoplifting systems. It is another object of the present invention to provide an electronic anti-shoplifting system that deters shoplifting and deters customers from returning sale-priced merchandise for full price. It is another object of the present invention to provide an electronic anti-shoplifting system that deters shoplifting and deters customers from returning merchandise after a time-limited price guarantee expires. It is another object of the present invention to provide an electronic anti-shoplifting system that deters customers from stealing merchandise from one sales outlet and returning the merchandise for a cash refund to another sales outlet that sells the same merchandise. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an electronic anti-shoplifting electronic system that is small in size and relatively inexpensive to manufacture. These objects and others are achieved by the present invention described hereafter.